


Trinity

by snuffymcsnuff



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, mostly nora and mac being grieving parents tbh, really only maccready/sole survivor if you squint, that one bit in trinity church that made my heart weep for sad dad and sad mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 07:41:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5531348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snuffymcsnuff/pseuds/snuffymcsnuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a part of Trinity Church that neither of them was ready to face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trinity

No building is sacred, Nora thinks to herself, scaling another piece of the destroyed rows of pews, dust billowing around her feet with each step. The air is thick with it, meagre rays of light filtered through stained glass heavy with fuzzy particles. Trinity Church is silent once more, the last of its monstrous inhabitants brought to his knees in front of the memories of a congregation long lost to time.

_So much for salvation_ , she scoffs inaudibly.

It's the lower level that gives her pause, an undisturbed corner spotted through the dust just a few feet ahead of them. Maccready stumbles towards it before stopping suddenly, the grip on his rifle growing tight, fists clenched harder than when they were in the heat of battle.

With her heart slowly sinking into her stomach, Nora passes him, eyes roaming the corner slowly. She spots the familiar piece of furniture sitting to her right immediately, but doesn't have the heart to seek it out right away. Maccready lingers behind as she sinks into the armchair on her left, foot nudging the edge of a green block of wood engraved with the letter 'N'. Shaun's room had a stack just like it. Nate kept arranging them to spell both of their names so she would find them when putting Shaun to sleep.

On the day the bombs fell, he'd only gotten around to spelling her name.

It's not until Maccready sniffs and mumbles something about dust getting into his eyes that Nora realizes she too is crying, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She wants to leave the chair, leave the church and the plaza altogether but her legs feel like lead, her head heavy and eyes puffy with tears.

Maccready stands in front of the crib when she looks back up, his shoulders a tight, trembling line. One of his hands goes to rest on the wood, but pulls back as if burned by the touch. Drawn into himself like that he looks so much like a lost little boy that it makes her heart ache, both for what she has lost and for what this world has made him become.

When he turns back around the brim of his cap is drawn down low but Nora catches the unmistakable wet glint in his eyes. If he sees her tears he does not pause to comment on it, simply nods his head towards the nearest exit.

"Got what we came for, didn't we? All this religious nonsense is making my face itch."

The trek back to Sanctuary is for the most part spent in silence. By the time they leave the plaza, Nora's tears have dried on her dust speckled skin, leaving behind only feint lines that wash away with one swipe of a dishrag once they settle down for the night by the side of the road.

Maccready volunteers for first watch and when Nora rouses for hers he rather firmly insists on filling that shift as well. Nora waits until he sulks his way into a sleeping bag and fully closes his eyes before turning her gaze to the dark, ruined landscape.

In the back of her mind, Shaun's face smiles up at her from the bottom of the crib. Nate's hands ghosts around the small of her back. _He's got your eyes._

Does the boy she saw in Kellog's memories have her eyes?

Will he remember the mother that couldn't save him?

More importantly, will he forgive her?

If Nora was the praying sort, she'd have bowed her head low in that church and hoped for a miracle. But if life after the bombs fell has taught her anything, it's that the Commonwealth only ever takes. There, in the low light of their dying bonfire, she wishes it would take _her_ and not look back.

Morning finds them both weary and if possible, quieter than the night before. Maccready eats his stale sugar bombs in silence while Nora picks through her backpack, sorting out the unnecessary bits and pieces that weighs it down. A glimpse of green catches her eye and she freezes momentarily. She doesn't remember picking it up, much less stowing it into her backpack but there it sits, innocently, at the bottom of the pack.

Maccready stops, mid-crunch when the wooden block emerges into the daylight, sitting heavy in his employer's hands. For a split second he is back in front of that crib, eyes and fingers burning in equal measure. He'd wiped the blood from Duncan's cheeks with trembling hands. It wasn't his blood. 

He shakes his head and the image falls apart. He did not cry then and he will not cry now. Nora, he notices then, is somewhere that is not here. Somewhere far beyond the irradiated remains of this world, eyes fixed on the cube but not seeing what's in front of her at all. Putting away the cereal, Maccready makes his way to where she is kneeling in the dirt, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She startles, eyes wide as they swing around to land on the mercenary.

_You can tell me_ , he wants to say. _It's alright. I know how you feel._

But does he really?

Anything would be better than the silence that stretches between them, but just when he starts to fidget, her own hand settles over his, cold fingers splaying out over the top of his palm. Her wedding band catches the sun and Maccready feels Lucy's name on his tongue but it's too soon, too raw.

"You should keep it." He says instead. Nora sniffs, then turns the green cube over in her free hand. "He might remember."

"He might." She nods slightly before rising to her feet. Maccready offers her the backpack and she carefully tucks away the wooden block. She knows she can't keep running from it. For the first time since entering Trinity Church, her companion flashes her a small smile but it is a fleeting thing, disappearing as memories seem to flash across his eyes.

As they set off for Sanctuary, the telltale Red Rocket coming up over the hills in the distance, Nora makes a mental note to pick up an 'M' the next time around.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got 99 problems and Mac sniffling whenever he sees kid stuff is all of them.
> 
> I'm open to requests about these two btw.


End file.
